2008/09/29

I recently stated my own personal opinion as if it were an actual fact with regard to Crusillo and EFM. I can tell you that my personal opinions have not changed much since then either. But, I did realize that I spoke from a limited vantage point, and that my opinions had been formed by looking at an extreemly small piece of the pie.

And what is even more important to me than the possibility of being wrong, which I am pretty much used to by now, is the possibility that I hurt someone's feelings. So I felt badly about that and I apologized. That's about all you can do. And then I realized that I'd done it AGAIN... this time with Beth Moore.

Oy me... Have I become so self-important? Well, of course I have. If it's not one sin, it's another. And, after this, it'll be another still. Bear with me as I seem to have a real bad habit of sinning over and over again.

I really don't know enough about Beth Moore to be making such bold statements. It is only my personal opinion that she's a nut, and that's based on the slenderest of evidence. I've only been in the thing for three weeks, and one of those was hurricane evacuation week.

Here's what I DO know:

Beth Moore is an engaging, and entertaining, speaker. I'd go somewhere to listen to her. Shoot, I'd love to have a lovely port with her. She's very interesting. But, I don't think she's much on the porto.

She is NOT an Anglican and will do nothing to promote Anglican values or ethos in your congregation. And, I am sure she would agree with that and possibly be proud of it.

She is unfairly critical of the Jesus Seminar. Mocks it. And she gets laughs for it too.

Her workbook is published by LifeWay, an openly, practicing, and avowedly homophobic publishing house. And, that's not her only homophobic friend either. She's a Baptist. Need I say more? (There's that fun pun again.)

The workbook requires homework for which there are "correct" and "incorrect" answers. We took a little "True" and "False" quiz at the start of last week's lesson. I am not to happy with that. Just me.

Beth Moore treats the Bible as if it's all one book, written by the same person, to the same people. That seems real disrespectful to Holy Scripture to me.

Beth Moore cherry picks verses from all over to make a single point and I don't think that that's always what the verses she chooses mean. I brought this up once and gave an example. It was not well-received.

In the second session Beth Moore wanted us to see that God is big, really big. (Like a giant man, Dr. Barth?) So, anyway, I agree with that, God is big. Beth Moore says that every time we try to define God, that limits our understanding and creates a little idol. That's kind of right, too. More likely it creates a little heresy, probably one that's been around for awhile. But, I am not going to argue with Beth Moore over something that little. Heresy, idols... neither one is that good. But, here's the point, and most of you have already guessed where I'm going, Beth Moore's God is limited to the "God of the word." You know, The Bible. What nobody at the Beth Moore Bible Study will say is that this is in itself a defining of God, and it's limiting, and it turns the Bible into a little idol.

I've gone on perhaps a little more than I should have on Beth Moore. Obviously we have a lot of differences.

I have found the experience enlightening in other ways though. For example, I used to think that there wasn't that much difference between Anglicans and ordinary protestants. Woah... think again. Dear Anglican friends, we are a different breed.

I actually attended the Methodist church one Sunday morning, that's where we have the Beth Moore meetings. That pretty well disabused me of the notion that Methodists and Anglicans would ever again be reunited. And I used to think that. Until just a couple weeks ago, I thought that.

And I have the experience of listening to and observing Baptists and Methodists in their natural habitat, the Fellowship Hall.

I will update you after the next meeting. The meetings are on Thursdays and I haven't decided whether I am going to Beth Moore or the veep debate.

Just personally, I have a feeling Beth Moore is a great ol'e gal. But, she's not one of us. I don't think it's apporpriate to have her as part of an Anglican parish's offerings because she is so blatently anti-intellectual, she's interested in the "correct" answers, and she is a member of an unhealthy and hateful organization. She is disrespectful to Holy Scripture and she does not look to history or tradition for guidance. She seems fairly reasonable, but fairly unAnglican.

Of course, I could be wrong.

(Previously I spelled Ms. Moore's name "More." I was wrong and have corrected the error.

Well, let me tell you all the other thing... You have to say this little creed at the start of every lesson. It has five parts. They are:

God is who HE says HE is.God can do what HE says HE can do.I am who God says I am.I can do all things through Christ.I believe God.

OK. Whatever. So, last week I announced that I prefer a gender neutral version and I helpfully invited everyone to say it with me that way. Well, not one single one of the women there said it in a gender neutral way with me. Not one. They didn't say anything about it. They just ignored me. There were all women in the room, no men. The DVD presentation was made in an arena of I don't know how many thousand women... and yet our God has to have a penis. Unbelievable. Just boggles the mind.

I think there's a lot of "hidden" hatreds... homos, women, those who don't "beileve."

Oh, and the other thing, we are all supposed to wear a blue ribbon around our wrist like a bracelet. It's supposed to remind us to keep the law, at least that's what I think. It's like a gentile tzit-tzit. Very disrespectful toward orthodox Jews. Just totally inappropriate. And a little unsanitary if you ask me.

don't know much about this Beth More (Or Moore?) of whom you speak. except that I notice that she has many best-selling books in our local B & N. So, while I do NOT want to imitate her theology, I'd sure like to see what it is in her writing that makes people willing/able to read her stuff. Because we Lutherans just aren't getting anywhere on getting our word out.

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You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.